SEOUL, KOREA - KT, one of Korea's largest telecom companies, is driving forward with plans to acquire Africa's small Internet service company iWayAfrica. The Korean company announced on May 5 that it is reviewing the idea of acquiring iWayAfrica as part of its efforts to make forays into the African market.
iWayAfrica, a 100-percent-owned subsidiary of Telkom S.A., for which KT attempted to acquire in 2011, has been offering Internet services through satellites. The acquisition price is estimated at about 20 billion won. KT expects its acquisition of iWayAfrica to create a synergy effect in satellite business.
Prior to this attempt, KT had declared to give up its efforts to acquire Maroc Telecom, the largest telecom company in Morocco, from Vivendi last month, amid concerns that the Morocco-based telecom company is too big for KT to acquire. The market capitalization of Maroc Telecom is about 12 trillion won, higher than KT's market cap of 9 trillion won. The acquisition price was estimated at around $7 billion (8 trillion won).
